by Linda Ellsworth, River Malcolm, Chris Downing, Michelle Yee, Tom Rawson, Dylan Gonda, Olivia Walcott Gonda
and Darcy Leach
Orcas Island Quakers endorse a statement written by national and international Quaker organizations titled, “Quakers Discern Genocide is Occurring in Gaza and Urge Courageous Action.” An excerpt of the statement is printed below. To read the full statement, please go to https://afsc.org/newsroom/.
As Quakers, we recognize the divine imprint in every human being and confess the equality of all to live safely and without fear.
We are also compelled as Quakers to speak truth with integrity, including where it is uncomfortable, yet always to do so in love. This requires us to speak against the catastrophic violence in Gaza.
Friends have a long history of working for peaceful coexistence and justice for all people in the Middle East. We have witnessed times when Jews, Muslims and Christians have enjoyed peace and cooperation in the region. Since the creation of the state of Israel, our organizations have supported nonviolent efforts among both Palestinians and Israelis to protect human rights, prevent violence, address the root causes of conflict and promote peacebuilding. We still believe a peaceful future for all peoples is possible.
After deep communal and prayerful discernment, informed by our direct witness in Palestine/Israel and our readings of the positions of international human rights organizations, international and Israeli genocide scholars, and experts on the UN Genocide Convention (1948), we are exercising our religious conviction to speak the truth as we see it. We believe with moral clarity, and in line with the definition of the crime of genocide, that the current actions in Gaza perpetrated by the Israeli government constitute genocide.
All states have a legal duty under the Genocide Convention to prevent genocide. We call for:
1. An Immediate, Permanent Ceasefire & Full Humanitarian Access.
2. The Application of Robust, Targeted, and Timebound Sanctions, including a Comprehensive Arms Embargo, aimed at ending Israel’s genocide in Gaza and the related system of Apartheid.
3. Respect for International Law and Accountability.
4. Protection of Free Speech and the Right to Protest.
5. Dismantling of Oppression and Establishing a Just and Permanent Peace.
As Quaker signatories, we commit to:
• Advocate relentlessly for the end of the Israeli genocide in Gaza and the deliberate starvation campaign, a permanent ceasefire and accountability for atrocities committed in Gaza, the West Bank and East Jerusalem.
• Boycott settlement goods and divest from companies profiting from occupation, apartheid or genocide (e.g., arms manufacturers, settlement financiers).
• Reach out in love to Jewish, Muslim and Palestinian communities, confronting antisemitism, anti-Muslim and anti-Palestinian hate while refusing to be silent in the face of oppression.
• Highlight the voices of Palestinians, which have still been all too absent from media narratives.
• Support humanitarian relief for Gaza and communities suffering under occupation in the West Bank.
• Advocate for the universal human rights of all people in Palestine and Israel — ensuring they can live in freedom and dignity, without fear, and with lasting peace and security.
We hold in the Light all suffering peoples and leaders, praying they choose justice. In Palestine and Israel, peace built on equality is the only path forward.
